Saturday, August 23, 2008

REPOST-- Thought it might be fun to re-visit our June 10th Joe Biden VP stakes edition! Fun to look back and look forward.

I for one am OK with this choice. It isn't HRC and it isn't Bayh Which were both fears of mine. So I am feeling good. AND I do think Joe's a fighter. I remember when he went after HRC and others for voting for the stupid Iran resolution!

He's a good balance. (I was holding out hopes for a few others until the eleventh hour.) And now here we go with just over 2 months till the big day.

According to E.J. Dionne Jr. today, foreign policy expertise is the new cool-- so his promotion of Biden to the short list makes perfect sense. The Pa. connection is good too, and he certainly is scrappy. I have had my serious differences with Biden in the past but for V.P. he might be a good balance on the ticket. Older, experienced, loads of foreign affairs cred. Not bad.

I visited with Biden because he should be at the top of any list of vice presidential picks for Obama. Why Biden? In part because of where he took our discussion: Few Democrats know more about foreign policy, and few would so relish the fight against McCain on international affairs. Few are better placed to argue that withdrawal from Iraq will strengthen rather than weaken the United States.

The worst thing in a running mate is the fear of muddying his or her image in political combat. Biden would be a happy warrior.

He was born in Scranton, Pa., an essential state for Democrats, and has been a regular in the Philadelphia media market. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, himself a plausible No. 2, has called Biden "a perfect fit." The senator has been through two of his own presidential campaigns, in which he experienced what an acquaintance of his called the "white-hot heat" of scrutiny. -E. J. Dionne Jr.

Plus he has run for president so often that most of the skeletons must be out there by now. One hopes. I would prefer to have a governor on the ticket and not another senator, but you can't have everything. Obama-Biden '08? (Not as cool as Obama & "cupcake" Rollins '08, but then what is?)